Today is World AIDS Day and I would like to bring your attention to an HIV news item that has sent shock waves over the Internet. I am sure you have read the article that says AIDS could end in a decade. I got so excited when I saw the title AIDS could end in a decade. I, immediately, started thinking that someone has developed a new drug which kills HIV such that a full blown AIDS patient recovers in no time. I went to think that with such a great development in place, all HIV positive people in the world would eventually be put on this powerful drug and the HIV would be killed in no time. HIV positive people would fetched from every corner of the world to receive this powerful treatment and within 10 years, HIV would be history. But no, the the story is different. The title is just too sensational for nothing. Unfortunately, this news article has spread over the Internet like a wild fire.

Good people, do not be deceived. HIV is still very much around and there is still no drug to completely defeat it. Unless someone discovers a powerful drug to kill it, people will still be dying of HIV/AIDS in 2050.The first paragraph of the “HIV could be eliminated in a decade” news article says

The virus that causes AIDS could theoretically be eliminated in a decade if all people living in countries with high infection rates are regularly tested and treated, according to a new mathematical model.

Folks, when it comes to the issue of HIV, there is nothing like theoretical elimination. In most cases, things in the theoretical realm are so different  from practical realm. People need to be guided based on practical and tangible results.

The article points out that within 10 years, HIV infections in Malawi and South Africa dropped by 95 percent after people were voluntarily tested each year and immediately given drugs if they tested positive for HIV, regardless of whether they were sick.The article further says that such a strategy would cut the estimated number of AIDS deaths between 2008 and 2050 by about half, from about 8.7 million to 3.9 million, leaving only sporadic HIV cases. If 3.9 million people will die of HIV/Aids in 2050 and that there will be sporadic HIV cases then the title of this article is wrong and misleading. In my view, the only possible situation that can happen based on the achievements of the previous decade (95% drop in HIV infections) is that the number of HIV infections could be reduced to zero in the next decade. The people who will die of HIV/AIDS from the next decade onwards will generally be those who got the HIV in the previous decades.

So folks, you better take care. Do not be deceived. HIV/AIDS is still a huge danger to mankind. If you do not know your sero-status, please go for a blood test now. It will help you to make proper plans for your future.